Letter from John Andrews to William Barrell, 1 June 1775

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21 cm x 16.9 cm

From the Andrews-Eliot correspondence

page:

Its possible Saml may have wrote you
from the country, where he is wandering I know not where, with
his wife & Ruthy,
having quitted the vessel at Marblehd upon
hearing that the Same Spirit prevaild there, as
in the other colonies,
together wth findg it
disagreable to the Congress that people Should
emigrate there, though previous to that it was determind for
his wife & Ruthy to
leave her, as they had been three days beatg
in they bay & became So intolerable Sick,
that no perswasions
could prevail on them to proceed the voyage — Ruthy writes me
in the utmost distress, & Says her Sister must
inevitably have
died — you must know that we hir'd the vessel
& were ready
for Sailg near a week before they went, but after
we had had
her in pay three weeks, and lay'd out 100
Dolls. for accommodation
the admiral bo't her for Government use, but
Stipulated that
She Should proceed to
Halifax wth our passengers, but then we
were oblig'd to wait his orders for sailing,
he having appointed
a commander & other officers to her
wth 8 men, which were all
to go wth our Capt.
Mate & hands, &
we to victuals here, therefore
you must think She was well man'd; but having
outstayd
a long Spell of fair winds theyd no Sooner
Saild but head
winds came up & obligd
them to put into harbour as above,
where they concluded to alter their plans, but was obligd
to leave their provissions & furniture on board; the admirals
commander being very willing to oblige them, by taking em
out, if it had been in his power, but has finally carried them
wth him to
Halifax, and what will become of them there,
God only knows! as a rumour prevails here, that they have
have forc'd the troops from their posts there
& destroyd all
the
Stores belongg to the King, in the dock yard, & ca —
that She being
a Government vessell, will no doubt, meet
wth difficulty—
my honor obligd me to bear the Same
expences in voyage as

as though I had gone myself, therefore you must Suppose
much money to be flung away to no purpose, more especially if
the furniture & provissions Should be lost, having on board
Sufficient
of ev'ry kind to go to housekeepg — by the last letter I
recd. they Seem
inclind to go to
Exeter, but not determind. I wish 'em well fixd
Somewhere, to their Satisfaction, when they are, I
Shall be
much easier in my own mind, altho amidst
continual
alarms & frequent battles — it cant but afford Satisfaction to
ev'ry well wisher to his country, to find that
providence Smiles
upon every of their undertakings.

If Breck & his wife
are with you
please to Shew 'em this, &
tender to my love to them all—

Your favor of the
2nd May Post came
to hand but a few days Since, you earnestly request my wri-
ting you by ev'ryPost, at which time you did not consider the
em-
barrassments we are under in town, and that a letter cannot
pass without being liable to the inspection of both parties, unless
by water; I wrote you by Breck, as well as by
Mr Prince,
wch
letters I presume you have received — if my brother can get
a pass to go out, Shall give him this to forward, if possible,
without inspection. its hard to Stay coop'd up here
& feed upon
Salt provissions, more especially without ones
wife Bill, but
at the Same time would not wish to have her here under the
present disagreable circumstances — tho I find an
absolute
necessity to be here myself, as the Soldiery think they have
a license to plunder evry ones house & Store who leaves the
town, of which they have given convincing proofs already —
and the wanton destruction of property at the late fire, makes
the duty, in my mind, more incumbent upon me.

We have now & then a carcase
offerd for Sale in the market, which formerly we would not
have pickd up in the Street, but bad as it is, it
readily Sells
for 8 d [illegible] & a qr. of lamb when it makes
its appearance
wch is rarely once a week, Sells for a dollar,
weighing only abt
3 or 3 1/2 pounds, to Such Shifts has the necessity of
the times
drove us. wood not Scarcely to be got at 22 S a
cord

Was it not for a triffle of Salt provissions
that we have,
twould be impossible for us to live, Pork
& beans one day, &
beans & pork another &
fish when we can catch it, am
necessitated to Submit to Such living or risque the
little
all I have in the world, wch consists in my Stock of
goods &
Furniture to the amt. of between 2 & 3 thousd
Sterlg. as its
Said without Scruple that those who leave the town, forfeit
all the effects they leave behind — whether they hold it
up as only a means to detain people or not I cant Say —
but in regard to Slaves their actions have been consistant
with the doctrine, however absur'd — it has So
far
availd as to influence many to Stay, who
would
other ways have gone—
Mr.
Willm Barrell